A Surprising Lunch
by Marie Nomad
Summary: Takes place between Seasons six and seven. Darryl was adjusting to a world without the Charmed Ones when someone shows up. Someone he didn't want or expect. What was the side effects of the Nexus being destroyed?


Charmed is owned by TNT and Aaron Spelling. I don't own any of these characters.

A Surprising Lunch

By Marie Nomad

It had been a bad day for Darryl. The Halliwell Sisters had officially died although he was somewhat sure that the girls had found a way out. He spent the day doing the paperwork, notifying Victor of the girls' deaths although he knew about it already and preparing to transfer out of San Francisco.

It was a move he had been planning for months, he loved San Francisco but it was getting to be too much for him and his family. Hopefully, he could move to a place where there's no demons chasing him, no witches to help out at the expense of his career, and nothing too weird. He sighed as he looked at his watch. Soon, he can go home and maybe get some rest.

Then, the phone rang. Darryl picked it up. "Lieutenant Morris speaking." He paused. "WHAT?!"

**XXX**

It had been a very bad day for Darryl. The girls are gone and he is alone with a demon, well, a demonic lawyer who had been dead for four years. The officer stared at Cole as he stuffed his mouth with a third plate from the buffet where they are eating at. Darryl chose this location since it's public and cheap. So many questions entered his mind, how did Cole came back? Is he evil? Why is he here when he would be out looking for Phoebe? And why did Cole decide to talk to him?

Finally, Cole finished eating and sighed in relief. "Ahhh… I haven't eaten in four years." He rubbed his stomach.

"I could guess that." Darryl muttered, "Okay, now that you finally ate, I have to ask, why the hell did you call me?"

"I just wanted someone to talk to and if I shimmered in, it might attract a bunch of attention." Cole replied.

"Uh huh." Darryl studied him. Ever since he saw Cole, he seemed different. The last time he heard, Cole was off the deep end and insanely powerful but this guy seemed calmer and not so obsessed with Phoebe only the food in front of him. "But why me? Can't you talk to someone else?"

"Who else? I can't talk to Phoebe or her sisters they're… gone. I couldn't find Leo and I don't think Victor would let me anywhere near his grand kids. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I worked out a lot of my frustration while trapped in Limbo and besides, I lost a lot of my power." Cole explained.

"And how did you come back?" Darryl whispered, "Last time I heard, you died in some alternate universe."

"I did. It's a long story."

"Tell me."

"Okay. You see, first of all, I am no longer invincible. I had regained my Balthazor half and was the level of power I had about the time of Piper and Leo's wedding." Cole explained. "The reason is that when I 'died', I had altered reality so that Phoebe and Piper never met Paige and so that Phoebe and I would stay together. That didn't work out. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Cole paused as he remembered how he treated the alternate version of Darryl as his brainwashed minion. "Never mind. Anyway, when I died, I ended up back in the Manor in this dimension trapped in Limbo. I think that it was because I absorbed the Nexus into my body; Phoebe tried to cast a spell that would get it back into the Earth and me with it. I thought she failed but I was wrong. A small part of my essence was trapped within the manor. It wasn't much, I didn't feel a thing but it was enough that when I was vanquished in the alternate world I was shunted to this world trapped in the manor."

Darryl nodded as he watched the demon some more. "Okay, so you were trapped in the manor and no one saw you? Not even with all those magical beings coming in and out?"

"No one. Several people could sense me but they usually think that it was part of their imagination. It was like that Ghost movie only worse. I was very mad. I was furious at everyone, especially those sisters. But, there's nothing I could do to them at the time."

"So, why aren't you mad at the sisters now?" Darryl asked carefully. "I thought ghosts keep grudges for eternity."

"Ghosts do but I was not really a ghost. Anyway, time passed and I had time to think about a lot of things. Maybe it's the time 'alone' or maybe something else had driven me over the edge but I started to feel different, I could see things clearer."

At that, Darryl interrupted, "Wait, you've been in the manor this entire time and not once, you tried to kill the girls?"

Cole pondered. There was that time, he had lead the residual essence of the demons into attacking the girls and a few times when he summoned demons to the house but Darryl didn't need to know about that. "What could I do?" He asked, "Anyway, I spent my time watching, waiting, and trying to pass the time. While the Avatars were around, I stayed away from them. I never trusted them. They could see me and they weren't happy that I abused their powers to alter reality."

"The Avatars?"

"You really don't know?"

"I heard about them from Agent Brody but no, what are they? Are they evil?"

"They're not, they're more neutral. Trust me, it's better that you don't know what the Avatars are or what they did."

"And what did they do?" Darryl prodded. He felt that Cole was holding something back but he didn't know what. "Never mind. Maybe, it's better that I don't know."

"Yes, anyway, after a while, I got back and everything was a mess. The girls regret what they gave up and… I was tempted to leave things as they are because they deserved it."

"For… look Cole, me and the girls parted a long time ago. I won't tell any one about this, I need to know, what did the Avatars do?"

Cole looked around and whispered, "Imagine a world where there is perfection. No chaos, no crime, no anger, just perfection."

"That's bad?"

"No free will either."

"That's bad. Did the girls actually help them?"

"Well, would you want a world free of crime?" Cole asked.

Darryl pondered. "Okay, I see your point. There are days when I want the world to be a peace but not at the price of free will. I want those crimes stopped because the criminals didn't want to do it in the first place not because they are forced."

"Yeah, that's how the girls feel too. Well, Phoebe was all for it. Paige was against it. Piper was somewhat in between. Anyway, Leo finally realized the truth, made a deal with a powerful demon and got the world back to normal with no one except for a few remembering what actually happened."

"Well, I'm glad I'm not one of those few because you're right, I shouldn't ask."

"That's all right. Anyway, from my place in Limbo I managed to learn a few things and from there, I decided to help out. Everyone was feeling raw about the whole affair, especially Phoebe who was getting disillusioned about love. I decided to tweak things a little. Send in this demon who was really good, I mean, he was a bookworm rebel."

"A bookworm rebel demon?" Darryl asked as his jaw dropped.

"Yeah, well that's the best way to describe him. He was born different from other demons; he was more interested in reading books than doing evil so in his own way, he was a bit of a rebel. He had never killed a human in his life and he made a deal with a sorcerer to make him human for a year. Anyway, I introduced Drake into Phoebe's life and got her to believe in love. So, after some maneuvering, I helped Piper and Leo get back after those Elders split them apart and robbed Leo of his memories."

"That, I remembered. Me and the girls weren't exactly on speaking terms but… I wanted to help him. He went to jail for me."

"What?"

"Never mind. What happened after that?"

"Well, Zankou started to attack the girls constantly. He was smart. He attacked innocents around them and then used a necromancer to revive the dead to haunt them literally. He did it to get the girls shaken up, to lose their confidence and the Book of Shadows would be vulnerable."

Darryl paled. "Oh no, don't tell me that they revived Prue."

"No. No, they didn't. They brought back that Reese guy."

"Now wait, I knew that Reese's death shook them up but… if I was an evil demon, I would use Prue's body."

"No idea. Zankou's a smart and devious demon. Anyway, as always Phoebe and the others defeated him. They vanquished Zankou using the Nexus itself. Somehow, when the Nexus was destroyed, I was freed. And here I am, alive, solid, in this world." Cole finished as he looked at his hand.

"One hell of a story."

"I know."

A moment of silence passed between them. "What are you going to do now?" Darryl asked. "Phoebe's… gone. Are you going to try to bring her back?"

"No. I won't do anything like that." Cole looked around and whispered, "I was with them when they made their plans. I know them. They wouldn't throw away their lives."

Darryl's throat closed up. Cole knows that Phoebe is alive somewhere with her sisters using a disguise. "Are you going to-"

"I won't force them out. They need a break but eventually they will be caught but it won't be by me. I'm done with them. I know how much they hate me. Piper knew about my fate but didn't lift a finger to help me. Okay, I had moved on but I thought she would have more compassion. I'm done with them. Phoebe has to go on without me looking over her shoulder."

"Where are you going then? You can't just go back to being a lawyer here, they will catch you." Darryl asked.

"There's this place that I'm going to. You can only get there by shimmering or some other mystical means. I am going to go there, maybe find some form of peace." Cole sighed.

The cop let out his breath in relief. He could tell that Cole was telling the truth. Cole didn't seem that interested in Phoebe any more. At least, he's not obsessed with her. "Good. I'm leaving too. I'm getting transferred to the East Coast, I… I don't want to be anywhere near the girls either. It's not like I'm abandoning them it's just-"

"I was there, remember? I know what they did to you. To be honest, I'm glad you're leaving, standing up for yourself. Why do they take advantage of us and hate us the second we get a backbone?"

"Don't know."

Cole got up and said, "I gotta go. Stuff to do. Besides, I know that you want to be anywhere but with me. I'd pay for the tip but I don't have any money. Kinda lost everything when I died."

"That's okay. I don't mind." Darryl said as he put down the money. "Look, I don't hate you or anything it's just that… I'm fed up with all the mystical mess and you're part of it. I really hope that you find some peace and that you don't come back. No offense."

"None taken. Same for you, except for the whole not coming back thing because the girls did like you." Cole said as he shook Darryl's hand and walked away.

Darryl sighed as he stared at the empty spot and then at his hand. Should he tell the girls anything? No. Cole does not want to them to know. He will respect his wishes. Although, he had to wonder, what kind of place where he could go?

The End?


End file.
